


One to Keep

by mistressterably



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Falling In Love, First Date, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-25
Updated: 2017-05-25
Packaged: 2018-11-04 17:02:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10995168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mistressterably/pseuds/mistressterably
Summary: There’s a theory that says that everyone has a doppelganger.. a twin… in the world. Now, expand that into the universe and the possibility of alternate universes. So, there’s a chance even if it’s so very slim that there’s an ideal partner out there for everyone. Even for Donna Noble.





	One to Keep

Chapter 1

Leo McAvey   
Auto Mechanic

He enjoyed his job. Leo was good with hands and could take apart most engines and put them together again better than they had been before. Dean, the front desk guy he had hired, was understanding and made sure to run the customer side of the shop. It left him to do what he needed to do to fix the cars that customers brought to him. The shop was very successful now that he had Dean on the front desk. 

‘D-d-d-d-ean!’ He called out as he cleaned his hands of the grease that had collected on them. 

‘Leo? All done that Ford?’ Dean met him at the door to the garage from the office. 

‘Y-y-y-yes.’ Leo handed over the clipboard with all the notes of his work done on the car. Dean nodded and looked it over.

‘I’ll call the customer and let them know. This one is a new customer. First time here. Says she got the shop name from the ad we posted up at the corner shop. You want me to apply a 10% discount on it?’

‘S-s-s-s-sure.’ Leo thought nothing more about the Ford and moved on to the next car to be worked on. 

Chapter 2  
‘I want a test drive in the car to make sure it’s been fixed properly!’ Donna barked at Dean. 

‘Ma’am.’

‘I am NOT a Ma’am! Do I look that old?? Do I?’ Donna countered. ‘I just want to know that my car has been fixed!’

‘We don’t have the staff to have someone take you on a test drive. There’s just myself and the mechanic.’ Dean told her.

‘Then get the mechanic out here! He can do the test drive with me.’ Donna was adamant.

Leo, drawn by the fuss Donna was making in the front office.   
‘Sorry, Leo. Mrs. Noble here is wanting a test drive before she’ll agree to pay.’ Dean explained. ‘I’ve told her we don’t have the staff.’

‘I’ll t-t-take her.’ Leo said.

Donna nodded emphatically to Dean having won the argument. Leo quietly took the car keys from Dean and gestured for Donna to follow him. In the car, Leo remained silent and navigated the car around a number of city blocks to prove to Donna that the car was fixed. 

Pulling up in front of the garage again, Donna went into the garage’s office and paid the repair bill. Leo was once more in the garage bay working on another car. 

‘Thank you,’ Donna said suddenly behind him. 

Her appearance surprised him and he banged his head on the car bonnet. ‘Ow.’ He stood up more carefully, rubbing his sore head. ‘You’re w-w-welcome.’

‘You stutter.’ Donna noted. A feeling of deja vu passed over her. What she said next surprised her as much as it did Leo. ‘Would you like to go out for a drink?’

Leo just gaped at her, his mouth open and working like a fish trying to think of how to respond to her.

‘I’ll take that as yes. I’ll pick you up tomorrow at 5 pm. You’re garage closes at 5 pm. So you’ll be free then.’ She rushed out her plans. ‘See you then. Try to clean up well.’

Chapter 3  
Leo made it a point to work as fast as he could the next day. He wanted to make sure he had more than enough time to get himself cleaned up and ready. From the invoice, Leo knew her name and her address and she drove a Ford. Donna Noble. 

‘You are insane.’ Dean told him off from the doorway to the washroom, watching Leo clean up. ‘You’re going out on a date with a customer who practically ordered you to go on this date.’

‘I c-c-c-can’t exp-p-p-plain.’ Leo said. ‘I f-f-feel like she’s m-m-m-meant f-f-for m-m-me.’

’Hope so, Leo. Any woman wanting to hook up with you is going to have to be someone really special.’ Dean punched Leo in the shoulder. ‘Have a good time tonight.’

Leo nodded and finished getting changed into his best suit. 

‘Hello? I’m waiting!’ Donna called after a quick knock on the door of the shop. ‘Leo? You do clean up well.’ Donna smiled at him broadly. ‘Come on, we’re going to a pub I know just down the road. What do you drink?’

‘B-b-b-beer.’

‘Beer it is. I’ll order. Otherwise we may be all night getting past the appetizers.’ Donna threaded her arm through his. 

Leo smiled at her, content to let this fiery red-head talk non-stop to him the whole way down the road. At the pub, he was once again fine to let her do the talking. He easily pointed on the menu to what he wanted to eat. 

‘And the pie had better be hot right through!’ Donna barked at the waitress as she left with their order. ‘Now, Leo. We should get to know each other better. What do you like to do in your spare time?’

‘I l-l-like t-t-to f-f-f-fish. You?’

‘Fish? Never fished before.’ Donna answered quickly then paused a moment, gazing into space before blinking. ‘No, never fished. I could give it a try. I won’t touch that slimy worm thing you would use. You can do that part. Do you actually eat what you catch? Do you even catch anything?’

‘I d-d-don’t c-c-catch much.’ Leo admitted shyly. ‘I w-w-would l-l-like your c-c-company.’

‘I’d give it a go. I can see why you would like to go fishing.’ Donna said.

‘W-w-why d-d-do you s-s-say..’ 

‘It’s quiet. You don’t have to talk to the fish.’ Donna pointed out. 

Leo smiled at Donna, reaching over the table to take her hand in his. ‘D-d-d-donna.’

‘Yes, I’ll go fishing with you.’ Donna cut him off, getting to the question he wanted to ask. 

Chapter 4  
The following Sunday morning, Leo pulled up in front of Donna’s house. He was about to get out of the car to knock on the door when Donna came running out of the house she shared with her mother and grandfather. Leo waved awkwardly at the old man in the red toque standing in the doorway watching him. ‘I’ll be fine! He’s not a serial killer, Granddad. He stutters and fishes. I’ll call you later.’

‘H-h-hi.’ Leo smiled as Donna got in the passenger seat. ‘H-h-how are y-y-you?’

‘I am doing well but a bit sleepy. There’d better be a stop at a coffee shop on the way to this fishing hole of yours. Just why do you have to go fishing so early? No, don’t bother answering. You probably just like being there because it’s quiet.’

Leo nodded, smiling. 

Suddenly, Donna went quiet herself. ‘Leo?’

‘D-d-donna?’

‘Nothing.’ Donna shook her head to clear it. ‘I just need some coffee.’

An hour later, the sun was warming them as Leo’s fishing pole hung out over the water, loose in his grip. Donna sat beside him, nursing the last of her cup of coffee. ‘This would be a good spot to do stargazing from at night.’

‘S-s-stargazing?’

‘My granddad likes to look at the stars. He’s got this great telescope. I should see about getting you over one night when he’s got the kit out. Stargazing can be quiet as well.’

‘Y-y-you aren’t.’ Leo said.

Donna blinked at him, shocked into silence. Finally, Donna just laughed softly and moved her camp stool a little closer to Leo. She reached out to take his hand in hers.

Chapter 5  
‘Granddad. Weather is reporting clear skies Friday night. You planning on setting up the telescope?’

‘Can do,’ Wilfred responded to his granddaughter. ‘Going to join me?’

‘Would you mind if I invited Leo along?’ 

‘Well, well, aren’t you getting all serious with that man.’ Donna’s mother broke in. ‘I don’t know what you see in him, Donna. He stutters and he’s a mechanic.’

‘Sylvia! That’s uncalled for.’ Wilfred told her off. 

‘Well, she’s the one with those grand plans of marrying a wealthy businessman for a life of luxury.’ Sylvia scoffed. ‘Look at where you’re at now.’   
Donna stood up abruptly. ‘I’m going to be late for work.’ 

‘Tell Leo he’s welcome to join us on Friday.’ Wilfred called after her.

Donna drove through the streets to her office. She hardly registered her work that day in her conscious thoughts. She was still fuming at her mother’s reaction to Leo. He was sweet. Yes, he stuttered but she didn’t care about that. Picking up her phone, she called the garage. ‘Dean? Is Leo busy?’

‘He’s just in the middle of a muffler replacement, Donna. Want me to have him call you back?’

‘No, just tell him I’ll pick him up at 5. I need to go out tonight.’

‘Will do.’ 

Later that evening, Leo sat across from Donna at the pub. He recalled their first date here. Smiling, he just gazed at her until she looked up from her plate and smiled back at him. ‘D-d-donna, w-w-what’s wr-r-rong?’

‘Caught on to that did you?’

Leo just nodded, gesturing with his own fork to her plate where she’d not eaten anything just mashed her vegetables into a pile of mush. Donna set her fork down.

‘My mother…’ Donna couldn’t say it. She just couldn’t. ‘To hell with what my mother thinks. It’s what I think, isn’t it? And what you think.’

‘I th-th-think I l-l-love you.’ Leo said, blushing.

Donna hadn’t expected him to admit it so openly and so soon. ‘When I saw you, in the garage, picking up my car. There was this shiver inside me. As if I already knew you. Did you?’

‘Y-y-yes.’ Leo reached out to take both her hands. ‘D-d-deja v-v-vu.’

‘That’s it. Yes. Deja vu. And I felt like the first time around I had made a mistake and lost you. Now, no matter what, I don’t want that to happen again.’

‘It w-w-won’t.’ Leo said, gripping her hands a little tighter. ‘I w-w-won’t l-l-let y-y-you g-g-go. Ever.’

He leaned over the table and kissed her. Donna returned his kiss until the waiter coughed to interrupt them. They both looked embarrassed and sat back, letting the waiter clear away the plates of food neither of them cared about now. There would be plenty more meals together, they both knew that now.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, the name is LEO not LEE for those who may think that I've got the canon wrong. This is meant to be the doppelganger. 
> 
> This was a prompt for a fluffy Donna / Lee story. This is my spin on it.


End file.
